The Cocoon Cracks
The Insect King Subjugation Battle (3). Even in the game, I got frustrated every time I faced the Insect King. That damn bastard never went down easily. A quick decisive battle? Of course. No one wants to fight him while wading through hordes of monsters. But it was never that simple. The game company always figured out what players wanted and found ways to screw them over. And molting was one of those annoyances. A skill that massively boosts defense while potentially restoring the boss to full health if you mess up. Players had to break that shell and drag the Insect King back out somehow.
"Hoo." Honestly, the situation wasn't great. We'd prepared thoroughly, but our growth time had been far too short. Even now, I couldn't guarantee victory. It wasn't ideal, but it wasn't the worst either. Still, we've come more than halfway. Molting was a skill the Insect King could only use once every few years. That meant it was probably his last survival trick.
Bang! Bang! Beyond the walls of the audience chamber, countless bugs pounded against the stone. They were still desperately trying to protect their king. I had no idea when those walls would give way. But what mattered was that my objective hadn't changed. Defeat the Insect King as quickly as possible. That goal remained the same.
"Lily, prepare your magic. The most destructive and fastest one you have."
"Hah, haa… Wait a second. Do you think I'm some kind of magic-firing machine?!" Lily snapped, irritation clear in her voice as she downed a mana potion. Her face looked pale from overusing large spells. Kamilla and Adel were also drenched in sweat. Our entire party was exhausted.
"Wait, look over there!"
"The summoning circles are fading."
At least there was some good news. The three summoning circles Valcan had prepared had been dispelled. Since he needed to focus on recovery, his other spells had been canceled.
"From now on, we're changing formation. Everyone, gather here and attack him immediately." I told the party. Until now, I'd been handling Valcan alone because I didn't want to risk them getting hurt. I had poison resistance and knew all his patterns, but they didn't. I'd kept them back to avoid unnecessary injuries. But the situation had changed. We needed overwhelming firepower now. The faster we dragged him out of that shell, the better our chances.
From that moment, we all attacked the Insect King's pupa together. The barrier that had only shown minor scratches from my attacks alone began to crack under the combined assault of four people. As expected, their overall specs, including attack power, were superior to mine.
"Hup-!"
Swish! Kamilla let out a short battle cry as she swung her sword down. The tough sandworm hide split cleanly under her blade. As a proper Sword Aura user, she could deliver solid damage even if it took time.
"Carve him up!" Lily's magic followed, a barrage of razor-sharp winds tearing into Valcan's chitin armor. Each individual strike wasn't enough to pierce it, but dozens piling up gradually wore it down. What remained were the dimensional bugs' thorns wrapped around him like a fence. Those could easily withstand a knight's sword. They were the most annoying part, but I simply placed my hand on the thorns. Whether they were hard or not, they were still living creatures. And living things had blood flowing inside.
Blood Qi Absorption
Sssss. As if pulled by gravity, the bugs' blood flowed into my body. I devoured every bit of their energy. Once I'd absorbed enough, I swung my sword at them.
Slash! The thorn barrier protecting him was cut away far more easily than expected. Kamilla muttered quietly at the sight.
"Indeed… dark magic does come in handy."
I hadn't even shown them the real thing yet. Then, something unexpected happened.
Bang! A section of the wall broke open, and bugs began pouring in. The pile of rocks that had been holding them back had finally reached its limit. Hundreds, thousands of monsters and insects started filling the audience chamber. The party members panicked and shouted.
"Kyaa! It's broken through! They broke through!"
"Hero! What do we do now?!"
"What do you mean? We kill Valcan right here and now!" I swung my sword in a frenzy as I spoke. The tide of battle would turn against us in an instant. The sheer number of incoming bugs could crush us. Of course, we could hold them off for a while if we tried hard enough… but the best option was still to end Valcan's life before that happened.
My sword flew toward the last remaining barrier—the bandages. I intended to cut through both them and him. But Valcan moved faster. Tap! His hand shot out and blocked my holy sword. The hardened bandages had gained just enough defensive power to stop my strike for a moment. Crack! Through the gradually breaking bandages, Valcan's eyes gleamed fiercely.
"You people really are… impatient."
His body was still covered in wounds. His arms were full of bite marks, and a long stab wound remained on his abdomen. But all his other serious injuries had been healed. Pressed by the urgency, he'd come out on his own. He hadn't fully recovered, but he was at least ready to continue fighting.
"Damn it." I gritted my teeth. He really was too strong. Even though he was the strongest among the first Four Heavenly Kings, his specs had risen far beyond expectations. Normally, we'd push him to the brink of death right before the monsters arrived… but this time, we'd only managed to inflict serious wounds. Panic rose naturally, but I forced myself to stay calm. It's fine. I need to keep my composure now. Things had gone worse than planned, but we were still within expected parameters. I just had to keep doing what I'd been doing.
"We're changing formation again. Hold back the bugs as much as possible, just like before. Lily, prepare a powerful spell and launch it at Valcan."
"Are you joking? How are we supposed to stop that many?!"
"If we don't, we'll all die here together."
"…Tch." Kamilla clicked her tongue. It wasn't a question of whether we could or couldn't. If we didn't, we'd die. Every second that passed brought our end closer. I pulled a mana potion from my bag and said, "I'm not asking you to stop them all. Just hold them off as long as you can."
Fortunately, he wasn't in perfect condition either. He'd used his only survival skill, and his thorn bug guards were mostly gone. Time was running out, but it was still doable. With that thought, I activated a skill. After considering the cost and reward, I muttered quietly, "…I offer two of my fingers to temporarily enhance my physical abilities."
In that instant, two fingers on my left hand vanished. Whoosh! Blood spurted out as searing pain shot through my mind. The situation was so urgent that none of the party members noticed. Crunch. At the same time, my body was strengthened. An unknown power surged through me. The value of just two fingers. As I'd said before, the reward for something that could regenerate wasn't very high. The stat increase was barely noticeable. But… Even that much is precious right now. Aside from permanent damage, this was the greatest value I could offer. I charged at him again. His furrowed face came into view. The thorn bugs guarding him were gone.
"Kugh, protect me at once!!!" Instead, he chose another method. He used some of the swarming bugs as shields. The party members were trying their best, but four people alone couldn't stop the flood. "Really tenacious bastard." I swung my sword without hesitation. Some strikes only killed a few monsters, while others grazed his skin. I had to break through. No matter what, I had to break through. That single thought filled my mind. Then, at some point—
"It's no good! We can't hold them!"
"Cough…!"
"Adel? Adel! Yulise, purify this area!"
Bang! Bang! The passages Lily had blocked were being torn open one after another. The number of incoming bugs and monsters doubled. I kept swinging my sword.